Occupational Licensing, Antitrust, and Innovation

August 9, 2017 at 12:00 PM ET

Crowell & Moring
1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20004

Every state has laws or regulations that require individuals seeking to offer a certain service to the public first to obtain approval from the state before they may operate in the state. Recent years have seen a significant proliferation of such laws, with less than 5% of jobs in the American economy requiring a license in the 1950’s to between 25-30% today. Although licensing in some occupations may benefit the public by reducing information asymmetry and/or ensuring a minimum quality level for a particular service, the significant growth in the number of occupations governed by some form of licensing requirements poses a potential threat to competition and consumer welfare. Our panel of experts will discuss these important issues.

Sarah Oxenham Allen

Senior Assistant Attorney General

Office of the Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Virginia


James C. Cooper

Associate Professor of Law and Director, Program on Economics & Privacy

Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University


Maureen Ohlhausen

Partner

Baker Botts LLP


Lisa Kimmel

Senior Counsel

Crowell & Moring LLP


Koren Wong-Ervin

Partner

Axinn, Veltrop & Harkrider LLP


The Federalist Society and Regulatory Transparency Project take no position on particular legal or public policy matters. All expressions of opinion are those of the speaker(s). To join the debate, please email us at [email protected].

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